Cognitive dissonance  

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 +:''See [[cognition]] and [[dissonance]]''.
-'''Cognitive dissonance''' is a [[psychological]] state that describes the uncomfortable feeling between what one holds to be true and what one knows to be true. Similar to ambivalence, the term cognitive dissonance describes conflicting thoughts or beliefs ([[cognition|cognitions]]) that occur at the same time, or when engaged in behaviors that conflict with one's beliefs. In academic literature, the term refers to attempts to reduce the discomfort of conflicting thoughts, by performing actions that are opposite to one's beliefs. +'''Cognitive dissonance''' is a [[psychological]] state that describes the [[uncomfortable]] feeling between what one holds to be [[true]] and what one knows to be true. Similar to [[ambivalence]], the term cognitive dissonance describes conflicting thoughts or beliefs ([[cognition|cognitions]]) that occur at the same time, or when engaged in behaviors that conflict with one's beliefs. In academic literature, the term refers to attempts to reduce the [[discomfort]] of [[conflict]]ing thoughts, by performing actions that are opposite to one's beliefs.
In simple terms, it can be the filtering of information that conflicts with what one already believes, in an effort to ignore that information and reinforce one's beliefs. In detailed terms, it is the [[perception]] of incompatibility between two [[cognition]]s, where "cognition" is defined as any element of [[knowledge]], including [[attitude (psychology)|attitude]], [[emotion]], [[belief]], or [[behavior]]. In simple terms, it can be the filtering of information that conflicts with what one already believes, in an effort to ignore that information and reinforce one's beliefs. In detailed terms, it is the [[perception]] of incompatibility between two [[cognition]]s, where "cognition" is defined as any element of [[knowledge]], including [[attitude (psychology)|attitude]], [[emotion]], [[belief]], or [[behavior]].
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Studies have not so far detected any gender or cross-cultural differences. Studies have not so far detected any gender or cross-cultural differences.
 +== See also ==
 +* [[Affective forecasting]]
 +* [[Ambivalence]], particularly the reference to ''The agony of ambivalence and ways to resolve it'', [[Love–hate relationship]], [[Psychoanalytic concepts of love and hate]], and [[Splitting (psychology)]]
 +* [[Antiprocess]]
 +* [[Buyer's remorse]] is a form of post-decision dissonance.
 +* [[Choice-supportive bias]] is a memory bias that makes past choices seem better than they actually were.
 +* [[Cognitive bias]]
 +* [[Cognitive distortion]]
 +* [[Cognitive inertia]]
 +* [[Cultural dissonance]] is dissonance on a larger scale.
 +* [[Double bind]] is a communicative situation where a person receives different or contradictory messages.
 +* [[Double consciousness]] is conceiving of one's self both as itself and as society's image of it.
 +* [[Doublethink]] is a concept present in [[George Orwell]]'s [[Nineteen Eighty-Four]] that allows a person to hold two contradictory ideas simultaneously and accept both of them as correct.
 +* [[Effort justification]] is the tendency to attribute a greater (than objective) value to an outcome which demands a great effort in order to resolve a dissonance.
 +* [[Emotional conflict]] is the presence in the subconscious of different and opposing emotions concerning the same situation.
 +* The [[Great Disappointment]] of 1844 is an example of cognitive dissonance in a religious context.
 +* [[Implicit memory#Illusion-of-truth effect|Illusion-of-truth effect]] states that a person is more likely to believe a familiar statement than an unfamiliar one.
 +* [[Information overload]]
 +* [[Metanoia (psychology)]]
 +* [[Shame]]
 +* [[Speciesism]]
 +* [[Techniques of neutralization]]
 +* [[Terror management theory]]
 +* [[True-believer syndrome]] demonstrates carrying a post-cognitive-dissonance belief regardless of new information.
 +* [[Wishful thinking]]
 +* [[Memory conformity]]
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See cognition and dissonance.

Cognitive dissonance is a psychological state that describes the uncomfortable feeling between what one holds to be true and what one knows to be true. Similar to ambivalence, the term cognitive dissonance describes conflicting thoughts or beliefs (cognitions) that occur at the same time, or when engaged in behaviors that conflict with one's beliefs. In academic literature, the term refers to attempts to reduce the discomfort of conflicting thoughts, by performing actions that are opposite to one's beliefs.

In simple terms, it can be the filtering of information that conflicts with what one already believes, in an effort to ignore that information and reinforce one's beliefs. In detailed terms, it is the perception of incompatibility between two cognitions, where "cognition" is defined as any element of knowledge, including attitude, emotion, belief, or behavior. The theory of cognitive dissonance states that contradicting cognitions serve as a driving force that compels the mind to acquire or invent new thoughts or beliefs, or to modify existing beliefs, so as to reduce the amount of dissonance (conflict) between cognitions. Experiments have attempted to quantify this hypothetical drive. Some of these have examined how beliefs often change to match behavior when beliefs and behavior are in conflict.

Social psychologist Leon Festinger first proposed the theory in 1957 after the publication of his book When Prophecy Fails, observing the counterintuitive belief persistence of members of a UFO doomsday cult and their increased proselytization after the leader's prophecy failed. The failed message of earth's destruction, purportedly sent by aliens to a woman in 1956, became a disconfirmed expectancy that increased dissonance between cognitions, thereby causing most members of the impromptu cult to lessen the dissonance by accepting a new prophecy: that the aliens had instead spared the planet for their sake.

Maintaining conflicting principles (e.g. logically incompatible beliefs) or rejecting reasonable behavior to avoid conflict can be increasingly maladaptive (non-beneficial) as the gap being bridged widens, and popular usage tends to stress the maladaptive aspect. Cognitive dissonance is often associated with the tendency for people to resist information that they don't want to think about, because if they did it would create cognitive dissonance, and perhaps require them to act in ways that depart from their comfortable habits. They usually have at least partial awareness of the information, without having moved to full acceptance of it, and are thus in a state of denial about it. This "irrational inability to incorporate rational information" is perhaps the most common perception of cognitive dissonance, and this or another example of extreme maladaption would appear to be underlying many conceptions of the term in popular usage.

Studies have not so far detected any gender or cross-cultural differences.

See also




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